Just checking before I purchase... been thinking about these for years... are the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX still the best in their price range? seems they can be bought for $220. I think their cheapest was $199, not worth waiting for a sale?

And what amp would you suggest?

If I were to take these to school, probably not a good idea, due to open back design?

Thanks!

Looking into the Massdrop O2 + SDAC DAC/Amp. This is $150. As I saw a similar one suggested in other thread... But this seems much cheaper and close enough?

Although yupitsmeh was suggesting other DAC or AMP? What else should I consider?


Or just simply the Massdrop Objective 2 Headphone Amp: Desktop Edition. This is $95. But I think the DAC for the extra $55 is worth it.

I have the Xonar DGX soundcard but I don't think its good enough for these headphones. I am confused about the Amp and DAC terminology and what to get...
So I believe an Amp is definitely a great choice to get because the soundcard cannot power these headphones well enough. But would the DAC on the Xonar DGX be comparable to an external DAC? Wondering if theres really any need for another DAC?
And if I do get an external DAC, would I need to somehow bypass the Xonar DGX so I don't have multiple DAC running through the setup to my headphones?

That combo is great for its price
Odac price is what kills the o2 combo

Could consider the hd58x jubilee

But open design is prolly not great at school

Thanks for the suggestion!
But I am still unsure if the DAC part is needed? Since I have a Xonar DGX soundcard.

I could save money and just go for the O2 amp alone for around $90. Or the DAC/amp combo for $150.

Dgx had headphone amp too

You would be double amping


You would have to take your time finding happy medium between them

Id usually go high windows volume first then adjust dac/amp volume

Y'all need to fix your avatars.

I think I can just turn off the xonar dgx headphone amp. I'm not 100% sure, but my understanding is that the xonar dgx DAC is automatically running when things are plugged into it? So possibly just fine with an external amp?

I guess I am also confused on how to plug in the O2 DAC/amp? I think a micro usb plugs into the O2 and my pc USB for the DAC. Then the power cord goes from the O2 to a wall outlet for the amp. And finally my headphones plug into the O2? But... if these are the only connections then there would not be any way to plug it into my xonar anyway?

what do you mean by finding a happy medium? between what?

This post was edited by noob_whacker on Nov 10 2019 10:37pm

ugh... now also looking into the Atom amp by jds labs? any opinion on this one? seems potentially better. too much I don't know about amps

the more I read, it seem like an external DAC may not really be needed or help much? unless I hear hissing or distortion?

also checking out the magni / modi setup or just the amp alone... sorta confused on the differences

This post was edited by noob_whacker on Nov 10 2019 11:33pm

if you got any amp that would be onboard or soundcard output to the amp 3.5mm

happy medium because you want to almost maximize windows sound then turn up your amp

you should read about this and why it is important for majority of windows setups



dacs really are all pretty accurate but once you go higher end headphones you want higher end everything

or yes the hissing or distortion /interference

This post was edited by yupitsmeh on Nov 11 2019 06:31am

It depends entirely on your preferences, but yeah I would usually recommend HD650, HD600 or HD580.

I'd personally skip the O2 amp and get sometehing else. JDS Atom, Schiit Magni 3 and some people also like Topping. I'd probably go with Magni & Modi 3 combo.

I think there was a used HD580 in mint condition on sale a few days ago for like $80. Worth checking out.